[Wasted years--politics and the promille limit].

Already as early as 1955 the German Federal Board of Health pointed out that the legal treatment of drunken drivers according to traffic (criminal) law regulations was not in accord with the proven effects of alcohol upon the human system and traffic safety. The Board of Health therefore recommended a revision of the regulation. The acceptable percent of alcohol in the blood of a driver should not exceed 0.08% while the said person is operating a motorized vehicle. Further, if a driver is found to be over the limit, he will be punished by law. This author has shown the extent to which policymakers have gone in attempting to pass laws which concur with recommendations resulting from scientific/medical research. Regarding this issue, it is especially disturbing that little attempt has been made to assimilate East German law into West German law.